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Posts Tagged ‘Haiti’

Where do I begin…

My heart aches for these people. You have no idea the desire that I have to have my mom fly out to CA to watch my kids, just so I can go and help with relief efforts. For many years, I’ve had a huge desire to do missionary work in poor countries, but the better of me sides with reality. I do recognize that I have young children, so I can’t go, not right now at least. I have made a promise to myself that when my youngest turns 18, and she’s well on her way to independence, I will begin my travels abroad to give back what I have been blessed with.

The simplest act of combing the hair of a child, or an elderly person or even a seemingly healthy 35 year old like myself seems like such a petty chore to some, but it’s something that I relish in doing when I know they cannot do it for themselves.

The recent earthquake in Haiti has me gripped at my seat, with my eyes closed and an aching heart, because these people started off in a hole, and now need more than a shovel to dig themselves out (every pun intended). Their world has been rocked, but by the grace of God, they will come out of it. It’s times like these that many of us take a minute or two out of our day to reflect on what’s really important in our lives. It’s in the last sentence…OUR LIVES. What can we do with what we have? Not everyone is lucky enough to ever go through a lifetime without any tragedy, but if you think about it, without that, we find it difficult to appreciate the smallest things. So maybe, just maybe, tragedies can make us better people, or at least we strive to be.

I’ve implied this in an earlier post and I’m going to do it again. If you are able to read this post, consider yourself one of the wealthiest in the world. It’s not enough to be sad and hope that Haiti comes out of this situation. We must be proactive. In other words, YOU know what you can and cannot provide to people in need. Whether it’s Haiti, Africa, or your homeless guy or gal living in the streets of your nearest downtown. “I feel so bad for these people” as you drive or walk away doesn’t do anything for them, or yourself.

I want to share an easy way of helping Haiti that I truly believe is worth taking the time to do. It’s easy, fast, and logistically genius in my opinion. If you can afford lunch or dinner even just ONE time this week, put that money aside and instead text away! The American Red Cross is taking donations of  $10 to help the victims of the Haiti earthquake through the simplest of text messages. All the instructions you need are in the above link. You don’t even need to pull out a credit card!

I want to challenge every single one of you reading this to send one text, that’s all. If you so desire to send more, then more power to you! Close your eyes for a moment, and just try to picture yourself switching places with one of the earthquake victims…hard huh? Now just imagine living it, or losing a loved one, or maybe not even knowing where they are. More simply, take a second to assess your hunger pangs or if you feel dehydrated………………at all.

I just made my donation via Text. It took about 30 seconds, if that.

I dare you. I double dog dare you!